On 5 October 1917 long time secretary to Booker T. Washington, Emmett J. Scott was appointed Special Assistant to Newton D. Baker, the Secretary of War. Emmett was to serve as a confidential advisor in situations that involved the well-being…

By the start of the 19th century, a large volume of trade was passing through Liverpool, and the construction of major buildings reflected this wealth. In 1830, Liverpool and Manchester became the first cities to have an intercity rail link,…

When Prince Pedro proclaimed the independence of Brazil in 1822, he decided to keep Rio de Janeiro as the capital of his new empire. Rio continued as the capital of Brazil after 1889, when the monarchy was replaced by a…

Time spent out of the line at least offered the opportunity for the frontline soldier to get clean. Communal baths would be set up and lice-infested clothing steam-cleaned. The chance to be clean was another essential prop to morale.

There are differing theories as to the origin of the name of the falls. According to Iroquoian scholar Bruce Trigger, “Niagara” is derived from the name given to a branch of the local native Neutral Confederacy, who are described as…

As trade between Caribbean and North American states increased in the early 19th century, Havana became a flourishing and fashionable city. Havana’s theaters featured the most distinguished actors of the age, and prosperity among the burgeoning middle-class led to expensive…

Life for soldiers in World War I followed a specific routine that involved waking up at around 5 a.m., performing military drills when not engaged in direct combat, eating breakfast, having an early dinner, sleeping briefly, performing more military exercises…

Oskar Jarén was born in Kasper Borg Frinnaryd in 1877 and died in his hometown in 1954. In 1960s all of his 2,000 glass plates were rescued from oblivion with the help of Frinnaryds photoclub. This collection documents daily life…

Between 1905 and 1914, an average of one million immigrants per year arrived in the United States. Immigration officials reviewed about 5,000 immigrants per day during peak times at Ellis Island. Two-thirds of those individuals emigrated from eastern, southern and…

Arnold Genthe (1869 – 1942) was a German-born American photographer. Genthe had earned a doctorate in Philology before deciding to pursue photography in the early 20th century. Beginning in 1906, Genthe photographed a number of socialites and young girls with…

By the late nineteenth century, technological advances and commercial pressure allowed construction to begin in earnest. An initial attempt by France to build a sea-level canal failed after a great deal of excavation. This enabled the United States to complete…

With men recruited for the armed forces, the industrial workforce changed. Women took on previously male-dominated roles in industry during the war, working alongside men in reserved occupations. Women made an increasingly varied contribution, working in labs, mills and factories,…

The three main circus shows photographed by Herbert Cooper were Duffy’s Circus, Buff Bill’s American Circus and Hanneford’s Canadian Circus. A few circuses toured Ireland in the years before 1914 and it was the heyday for these travelling shows. Big Tops…

Photos in this set were taken by H. Hunting of the Paterson Zochonis trading company between approximately 1910 and 1913. The company began as a trading post in 1879, and began shipping African products to the United Kindom and importing…

Jessie Tarbox Beals (1870 – 1942) was an American photographer, the first published female photojournalist in the United States mostly known for her portraits of places such as Bohemian Greenwich Village. Greenwich Village became widely identified as America’s bohemia by…